


Peekaboo

by jusrecht



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: M/M, Tina is a great friend, shy!newt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-03-10 14:50:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13503816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jusrecht/pseuds/jusrecht
Summary: Newt has a huge crush and Graves is not helping and Tina just wants to finish her report.





	Peekaboo

**Author's Note:**

> So mamin posted [this unfairly super cute fanart](https://twitter.com/mamin_the_troll/status/957296967352172544) and then said things like "Senpai please notice me" and I'm weak okay. HE SHALL BE NOTICED.

  
  
Tina doesn’t hate the case.

 

There’s simply no way that she can, really. It houses a wonderful world that Newt has lovingly created and nurtured. A world so different, so removed from the malice and doldrums of her everyday life that she cannot help but feel a bit protective of everything in it, including its oft incorrigible owner.

 

She is, however, currently questioning the wisdom of allowing The Case to make a corner of her desk its present abode, however temporary.

 

Her desk (not an overly large specimen to begin with) is already buried under so much paper that she can barely see the surface on a good day. Stacks of unfinished reports glare at her daily, demanding her to do something about their wretched state. Tina’s usual response is to turn her head gently away, out of concern for the delicacy of her emotional health.

 

Yesterday, howeve _r_ ; yesterday proved to be the day when her boss finally noticed the alarming growth taking over her desk. In Tina’s defence, he probably wouldn’t have noticed if Newt’s case hadn’t been swaying rather precariously on top of the Blind Pig report. He paused, gave the indisputable proof of her procrastination a look, and then resumed his course out of the office. The whole episode took no more than five seconds, and yet Tina felt like her soul had been yanked out of her body and left to wilt under the force of his judgment.

 

Such is the prowess of Percival Graves, and hence today’s mission. She arrived early in the morning, determined to introduce order to the unholy mess on her desk. At least half of them, she vowed to herself, will have rediscovered the true purpose of their existence by the end of the day.

 

Or so goes the plan.

 

Sadly, reality is a flighty mistress that makes it her habit to spurn any plan’s good intentions.

 

Tina swallows an urge to sigh when the lid of the suitcase, slowly and surreptitiously, rises. The movement is so subtle that nobody notices it. That is, nobody but _her_. Her unfortunate proximity makes any sort of pretence at ignorance impossible.

 

This has been happening the entire morning. Whenever a certain someone happens to be in the vicinity, the case will open—just a smidge. It will remain in that attitude until the person leaves. Then it will close, just as quietly, and Tina will find herself holding her breath for nothing, her concentration a thing of the past, let alone her plan for the day.

 

She glances over her shoulder. Graves is still talking to Abernathy in front of the bull pen, perfectly in her line of sight. Even she has to admit that her boss cuts a very fine figure. How anyone can look that handsome just standing there with one hand in his pocket is beyond her. For a moment, she finds herself sympathising with Newt’s plight.

 

The next time it happens, however, she snaps.

 

“Newt, will you _please_?”

 

There’s a moment of silence, followed by a murmur of apology, and then the lid sinks until the gap is no more than a sliver.

 

Tina resists another sigh. Somewhere behind her, Graves is giving instructions to a team of Aurors. “Will you just come out and talk to him? Like, you know, a normal human being. Just say ‘hi, I exist’ or something.”

 

“I can’t,” comes the muffled reply.

 

“Of course you can,” she retorts, a tad impatient.

 

“I wouldn’t know what to say.”

 

“‘Good afternoon, you’re the sexiest, handsomest beast I’ve ever met, will you be so kind as to have your way with me?’”

 

There is a faint choking noise. Pickett pops out a moment later, clearly exasperated. Tina listens to his furious chatter politely for a moment before pursuing her earlier topic.

 

“He doesn’t bite, you know.” She pauses. Turns the sentence over in her mind. “Unless that’s a thing for you?”

 

“I’m perfectly fine,” Newt replies stubbornly, except his tone clearly indicates the opposite. Tina sighs and returns to her robbery report, which has barely seen progress in the last few hours.

 

Queenie pats her cheek sympathetically when she drops by for lunch. Tina doesn’t even have the energy to roll her eyes when Queenie slips in a few Niffler breads into the small gap. Newt absolutely refuses to come out of the case while Graves is standing some twenty feet away, looking nothing short of lethal in his full ensemble of coat and scarf. If she didn’t know any better, she would probably accuse him of deliberately posing there.

 

In a way, she understands Newt’s reaction. Sort of. Graves was nothing short of severe in the few times they interacted in the past. Not even the fact that Newt had unveiled Grindelwald could soften his stance toward Newt’s case of creatures. She thought their relationship would improve with time, but other than the massive crush Newt has suddenly developed for the older man, nothing seems to have changed much.

 

“Mercy Lewis. Newt, will you just. Talk. To him.” Three hours later, Tina is still singing the same song, albeit with increasing ferocity. Graves has just emerged from his office, a coffee mug in one hand, a report in the other. His sleeves, she cannot help but notice, are rolled up, exposing a pair of rather impressive arms.

 

This time, there is no answer. The lid only lowers itself slowly and falls shut with a sad but determined click.

 

Tina lays her head on top of her doomed report and prays for patience.

 

“Goldstein.”

 

Tina jumps to her feet, causing two stacks of paper and an ink bottle to tumble to the floor. “Shit. I mean, yes, Mr Graves, sir?”

 

The Director returns her things with a wave of his hand. “Have you seen Mr Scamander? There’s something I need to discuss with him.”

 

Tina heroically manages to resist a glance at the case. “Uh, he’s… around, I think.”

 

“Tell him to drop by at my office as soon as he shows up, will you?”

 

“Is there an emergency?”

 

“No, not quite.” A gleam comes to the man’s eyes. “There’s a large beast in need of his attention, that is all.”

 

Tina blinks. Clearly she is losing her mind if she’s thinking what she’s thinking right now. “…yes, sir, I’ll let him know at once,” she says rather feebly.

 

“And one more thing.”

 

“Yes, sir?”

 

“Perhaps I should say this in person, but I wonder if Mr Scamander will have dinner with me this evening.”

 

A tiny noise comes from the suitcase. Tina stares, mouth agape, at the slow spread of a smirk across her boss’s face as he caresses the top of the case.

 

“Except that I’ll require his answer in the next five seconds or I’ll have to withdraw my offer–”

 

“Yes!” The lid bursts open and Newt pokes his head out, breathless and red-faced. “The answer is _yes_.”

 

“There you are, Mr Scamander,” Graves says dryly.

 

“The answer is yes,” Newt repeats, clearly determined to direct Graves’s attention to the only truly important matter in his mind.

 

“I heard you,” the Director purrs, obviously enjoying himself, and if his smirk suddenly looks a little softer, then Tina is perfectly willing to blame the angle. “Shall I come and pick you up at six then?”

 

Newt lowers his face, fingers still clinging to the edge of his case. “Yes, please.”

 

“I suppose you’ll come out now?” Tina asks with a snort after Graves has gone, leaving Newt frozen where he is with a gentle brush to his chin.

 

“No, I…” Newt takes a deep breath and slowly lowers himself back into the case. “I need to think about this for a minute.”

 

Rolling her eyes, Tina waves him away. “Fine, you do that. Hug anyone you need to hug, but come out after half an hour, will you? You’ve been in there _too_ long.”

 

“I will,” Newt says meekly. When he raises his eyes, they are a little misty. “You’re a good friend, Tina. A really good friend. I’ve never–”

 

She shoves him back in and slams the lid closed before embarrassment can catch up with her.

   

Incorrigible, really.

 

_**End** _

 

**Author's Note:**

> This fic has been translated into Chinese [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/13541508), courtesy of [liangdeyu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/liangdeyu/pseuds/liangdeyu) :)


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